The Shadows of Durin
by Jack Storm 448
Summary: In a world where humanity has long since abandoned the Earth leaving Pokemon the dominant species, an orphaned Lucario is thrust into a war by a series of unfortunate events and uncovers a conspiracy far more sinister than anything he could've imagined. On a quest for vengeance, can he learn to let go of the past before his anger destroys him? Made in collaboration with Krominicon.
1. Chapter 1

"AND THE CHALLENGER IS DOWN!" the announcer proclaimed over the P.A. system of the arena. "RICK 'THE REAPER' ONCE AGAIN DEFENDS HIS TITLE!"

"And good riddance," Rick, a Lucario, muttered under his breath as he straightened up from a fighter's crouch. This challenger, a large Aggron, had been especially tenacious. Still, a double type-advantage was hard to beat. A few well-placed Power-up Punches was all it really took, although to be fair it turned out to be easier said than done. Slightly.

The arena crew came in and dragged away the unconscious Aggron. The unfortunate Pokémon would have a hard time coming back from this defeat. He'd made a bad choice in deciding to challenge Rick, because this wasn't just any arena. This was the Underground League. Here you either won, or you didn't survive long.

Rick turned around as the gate to the cage opened, and headed for the preparation room; undoing the wrist-tape on his forearms as he went. He quickly found his locker and retrieved a plain-looking brown duffel bag. It contained more wrist-tape, some money, a sleeping bag, and a small stack of paper with an old pen.

He threw it over his shoulder and headed for the stairs in the back of the prep room. As he reached the top of the stairs a Scizor handed him a small, but heavy bag of coins; today's winnings. Rick accepted the small sack and shoved it into his duffle bag before continuing the climb. He stepped through a doorway at the top of the stairs, which led into the back room of a seemingly dilapidated old pub. The building was, quite simply, the perfect front for the U.L.

Rick made his exit without stopping to chat with anyone and stepped onto the front porch of the bar, stopping to breathe in the fresh forest air. It was a small town, only a few hundred residents; situated in a dense forest on the very outskirts of the kingdom of Durinheim. As such, they were very much left to themselves in terms of the government, which is why they could afford to support the Underground League even though the law prohibited things like that.

Although they were only a relatively small community, they still had a highly successful economy; mostly thanks to the Underground League, which brought in plenty of tourists and competitors both. The existence of the Underground League was fairly well-known pretty much everywhere except the capital, but its exact location was privy only to a very few outside of the competitors themselves.

The bar which served as a front for the Underground League was in the busiest part of the town; the market square. Although it was far from being an actual square. There were plenty of vendors and merchants around, each one advertising their goods to be the highest quality for the lowest price. Which was a physical impossibility since most of them sold the same kinds of things. There were a few however which Rick had found to be particularly reliable and honest; at least when compared to the other merchants.

With his winnings for the day's battle in his paw, Rick walked over to the stall of one such merchant; a particularly slim-looking Hariyama called Honest Jim. As per his habit, Rick picked up a few things for dinner as well as a small parcel of rock candy. Trying to conduct any business was difficult however, due to the background noise of dozens of people trying to do the same at different stalls.

With both dinner and candy in paw, Rick said goodbye to Honest Jim and headed for the residential district of the town; if it could be called that. To be brutally honest, Rick's house was in what would usually be called a slum. The housing was dirt cheap, and the houses were little more than cheap dirt. Still, although he was paid well at the Underground League, it was all Rick could afford. After all, he was supporting what was left of his family now.

As Rick walked through the slums, it struck him again how quickly everything had changed for them. One day they were a happy family, and the next they were living in a three-room wood house in the slums. He'd been forced to join the Underground League just so they could eat.

It all started when some puffed-up nobleman decided he could do a better job of ruling Durinheim than the previous king. The nobleman, Count Vladimir, staged a massive coup d'etat which quickly consumed the kingdom in a civil war. Rick's father and mother went to the capital to fight for the old king. They never came back.

Rick walked up to a rickety-looking wooden shack and carefully opened the door, which was little more than a few nailed together boards hanging limply off a set of rusted hinges. The inside of the house looked exactly as you'd expect; dark, dingy, and damp from the morning mist. The main room was lit only by a few dim shafts of sunlight filtering through the ceiling. There was a candle on the table in the center of the room, but it wasn't lit and hadn't been for quite some time. Rick walked in, the floorboards creaking under his feet.

"Jake? Lucy?" he called out, looking around for his two younger siblings; his only remaining family.

He was met only by silence. The house was empty, meaning his siblings were probably out visiting Samuel.

Rick sighed and rolled his eyes. "They need to stop spending time at that old Xatu's house, he's feeding them too much of his stories and wisdom. If this keeps up they're going to be smarter than me."

Rick placed his bag on the table, palming the small sack of candy as he did so. He then left the small house and turned in a different direction, heading to the better part of town.

As he walked he was greeted by neighbors and friends alike; each one smiling and waving at him as he passed. Most everyone knew that he fought in the Underground League, and they respected him for it. Almost anyone who knew about the U.L. knew Rick, and the record he held.

He eventually arrived at the old Xatu's house, which was in a much nicer neighborhood than the slums and was built to look the part. Samuel had worked in the court of the old king, and had more than enough money to live comfortably. Even with the amount he spent on less fortunate people.

Rick stepped up to the door and knocked. He waited a few moments as he listened to feet scurrying to answer the door. The door was flung open, revealing an excited-looking Riolu; Jake, Rick's younger brother. Jake was currently holding back his twin sister, Lucy, with his hind paw.

"Jake!" Lucy whined. "Stop it!"

"Rick!" Jake cried, ignoring his sister. "Did you bring any candy?"

Rick smiled and stepped into the house. "I did, but you need to stop bothering your sister if you want any."

Jake put his foot down causing Lucy to fall forward onto the floor.

Rick waited for Lucy to stand up and dumped some candy into his paw while Lucy and Jack held out theirs. Rick dumped the first handful into Lucy's paws, much to Jake's despair. Rick then handed Jake his share of the candy and they both ran off giggling to themselves.

"Ah, Richard," Samuel said, calling Rick by his full name as was his habit.

Rick turned and saw Samuel sitting on a sofa in the front room.

"Hi Samuel, how's it going?" Rick asked.

The old Xatu sighed. "Well enough, I suppose. Although when you get to be my age, the days start to blur together somewhat. You had another fight today?"

Rick smiled. "Rule number one about U.L., we don't talk about U.L."

Samuel chuckled slightly. "Of course, how could I forget. Still, I'm happy for you. You've managed to stay strong and provide for your family, even in the face of such… harsh trials."

Rick walked over and sat down next to him. "Yeah, it's definitely hard. But I have plenty of things to keep my mind occupied."

"That is good," Samuel replied, his eyes taking on the strange, faraway look they so often did; as though the old Xatu was looking into time itself. "Oh dear…"

Rick could sense that something was not right. "Are you okay?"

Samuel rose from the couch and walked over to the window. "I am perfectly fine, Richard. You need not worry yourself on my account. Although if you would be so kind as to follow me, I… I have something I'd like to show you."

Samuel didn't wait for Rick to respond, and instead started heading for the stairs to the basement. Rick, not knowing what else to do, followed him down a set of stone stairs to the root cellar of the house.

"Would you mind shutting the door behind you?" Samuel said, and Rick did so; although he was now extremely curious as to what Samuel wanted to show him.

Once the door was closed, Samuel turned to face the far wall. Unlike the other three walls it was completely bare, and there was nothing stacked against it. Then the Xatu said three words, but not from any language Rick had ever heard before. As Samuel said the words, Rick felt a strange buzzing in his ears and he detected a faint scent of ozone.

As soon as Samuel had finished pronouncing the third word, there was a low rumble and a portion of the opposite wall started to glow. Cracks filled with golden light formed and traced the outline of a door on the wall. Then, as soon as it had appeared, the light faded leaving behind the cracks.

"Come," Samuel said, walking towards the door.

Rick closed his mouth with a snap. "What was that?" he asked incredulously.

The old Xatu turned and gave him a sad smile. "There are many wonders in this world of oursh is the existence of magic so hard to comprehend? I have picked up many skills over my long life and, although I no longer possess the energy to use most of them, there is much I am still capable of. But come, open the door for a tired old Pokémon."

Rick nodded and stepped up to the cracks. He gave it his best push and the door swung inward effortlessly; as though it was weightless. As he did so he caught a faint glimmer of light, but the space behind the door was too dark for him to see anything clearly.

"Allow me," Samuel said, before speaking another of those strange crackling words.

The doorways was suddenly lit up as though by the sun, and Rick was struck dumb by what he saw.

"You know I used to work in the court of the king, do you not?" Samuel said. "Well, this is the culmination of my wages."

Rick didn't reply, he was still staring at the sight before him. The room was about twelve feet square, and the ceiling was several feet higher than Rick's head. Stacked up wall to wall all the way back, reaching right up to the ceiling, was an enormous mountain of gold coins.

"It's…" Rick started, but the sight defied description for him; never in his life had he seen so much gold.

"It's not just gold either," Samuel said, as though commenting on the weather. "See that chest in the corner? Yes, that one. It's full of gemstones, mostly in the form of jewelry. And I'm fairly certain there are a few old swords lying about somewhere, although I'm equally certain they're buried…"

"Why are you showing me all this?" Rick managed to mutter.

The Xatu's expression was briefly tinted with sadness, but Rick didn't see it and the moment was over quickly.

"Why, I wish for you and your siblings to have it of course," he said, once again as though he were discussing a handful of flowers or something equally inconsequential.

If it was possible to be any more dumbstruck, Rick would have been just then. He stared blankly at the pile of money in front of him, unable to form a cohesive thought.

"Of course, you'll have a hard time carrying it out of here," Samuel continued. "I expect you'll need significant help if you want to move any large portion of it elsewhere. Still, somehow I don't think that will be too much of a problem."

"But… why?" Rick asked again.

"It's really quite simple," Samuel replied. "I have no need of this much gold. I'd much rather see it put to good use, and I'm sure in your paws it will be. Of course I'll have to teach you the words of opening and closing, but they should work perfectly fine if you pronounce them correctly."

Rick didn't have a response, he just stared dumbfounded at the pile of gold.

Samuel sighed. "On the other hand, maybe I'd better give you a minute to take it in…"

"No, I'm… I'm good," Rick said.

"Alright then," Samuel replied. "In that case let us go back upstairs and I'll teach you the words."

That turned out to be easier said than done, as Rick could barely think straight enough to memorize anything; much less strange words from a mystical language he'd never heard before. Still, it only took an hour or so before he could repeat the words almost perfectly. He even tried them on the door a few times to make sure it worked.

Once he could open and close the door to the vault at will, Rick thanked Samuel profusely for everything; to which the Xatu responded with a somewhat sad smile, and a repetition of his request that the money should be put to good use. Rick then rounded up Lucy and Jake, who had been playing a spirited game of tag in and around the house, and had eaten every scrap of their candy, and the three of them said goodbye to Samuel and left.

"Oh, that reminds me," Samuel said as they walked out the door. "I'm going to be out tomorrow. I've got a few errands to do, and I won't be back until nightfall."

"Okay then," Rick replied, although a small spark of doubt was forming in the back of his mind; Samuel rarely went out, and he never stayed out until dark.

Rick looked down at his younger siblings who seemed to share his doubts. He made a mental note to check in on Samuel the next day. They said goodbye, and made their way back to the less appealing part of town; unaware of a pair of cold, emotionless eyes watching them leave.

* * *

In the forest, a few miles away from town, two young Mienfoo struggled to press forward in the hopes of finding… well, pretty much anything other than more trees really. As they walked, exhausted and hungry, the younger of the two tripped over a protruding tree root for the umpteenth time that day.

"Are you okay Chris?" The older one asked as she helped her younger brother back to his feet.

"I'm fine Suzie," Chris replied, brushing himself off.

"Then let's keep moving," Suzie said. "We've got to be close to some sort of town, I can smell other Pokémon."

"It might just be wild ones," Chris commented.

Suzie huffed. "Don't be such a downer. We're going to get out of this forest safely, I know it."

"I sure hope you're right," Chris sighed.

"Aren't I always?"

* * *

Me: Well, here it is. The secret project that Krominicon and I have been working on for… I don't know how long now. In any case, it's been a long time in the making. So long in fact that at this moment we've got three whole chapters written, and we're almost finished the fourth. The only reason why we haven't posted it until now is because… well, as you've probably all noticed this story lacks a name. Try as we might, we couldn't figure out what to call it. So we decided to do something I've only done once before, and get some input from you guys on the title. I know a few people who are probably reading this right now who have a whole lot more creativity than either Kro or I do…

Krominicon: I don't think that's entirely true, I mean with us combined and all, it gets pretty intense.

Me: You've got a point there. If any of you read the part of Kro's story where Jack made a cameo, then you know how well Kro and I work together. It's like they say, two heads are better than one. In this case, I think we've got a really good concept for a story; with more than a few twists and turns planned down the line. Isn't that right Kro?

Krominicon: *Grins evilly* yes, that is correct. Also, on a side note, I have a few announcements for whoever was or is involved in reading my previous production, The Ancient Fuse Evolution, and expecting a sequel. It is coming, but there have been some huge setbacks and plot reworks. So it's taking significantly longer than I anticipated. I am actually going to end up rewriting all the chapters that I currently have. So yeah, just bear with me for a bit longer… or something like that.

Me: Well put. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. To put it simply, we need a working title for this story. If any of you reading this have any ideas, feel free to let us know because we need all the help we can get. It's actually kinda ridiculous at this point… Anyway, the other thing we want to ask you guys is do you want to see more of this story? Like I said, Kro and I have three chapters done and a fourth almost finished, and we'll be posting them periodically over the next few days. If you guys like what you see, then let us know and we'll continue updating it as frequently as we can. Don't worry, it won't cut into either of our main stories. After all, Kro's and my schedules line up about once in a blue moon anyway these day so we'll both have plenty of time to focus on our other projects in between chapters of this.

If you're wondering why we're posting this on my profile, it's just because we figure it's easier that way. And no, it won't be like my collab with Osean where we post different versions on both our profiles. This is a standalone story (kinda) and it's just something Kro and I came up with one day and had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for. As such, we hope you guys enjoy it. Expect the second chapter when the bell tolls two! *cackles maniacally*


	2. Chapter 2

Rick grinned as his opponent, a burly Machoke, went down like a ton of bricks. After collecting his earnings he headed back to the surface as quickly as he could. Not that he usually stuck around for long, but that morning he had a special reason for leaving promptly. He had been unable to check up on Samuel due to the match he'd just won, so he wanted to get going as soon as possible in hopes of catching the Xatu before he left for those 'errands'.

During the fight, Rick had plenty of time to reflect on the events of the previous day and how they simply didn't add up to anything approaching a logical conclusion. There was definitely something strange about Samuel yesterday, and Rick was determined to find out what.

Rick snagged the morning's winnings on his way out the door and headed straight for Samuel's house. If there was no one there, Rick would look around the market district for him; or, more importantly, for Jake and Lucy. His younger siblings had taken off as soon as they were allowed that morning, hoping to catch Samuel before he could leave. If even they had missed him, then something troubling was going on.

Rick ran through town at a fair clip. He was used to moving quickly from one end of the city to the other, and he knew plenty of shortcuts. As such it only took him a few minutes to reach Samuel's neighborhood. As he rounded a corner and Samuel's house came into view, he was stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw.

There were Pokémon everywhere, mostly Herdier and a few assorted Fighting-types. They were milling about in front of Samuel's house, and the whole area was cordoned off with yellow tape.

Rick walked up to the nearest Herdier and asked, "What's going on?"

"Keep back sonny," the Herdier replied, turning to him. "We're conducting a murder investigation."

Rick's eyes got wide. "A murder…"

The Herdier nodded. "Aye. Did you happen to know the victims?"

Rick didn't respond, he pushed passed the Herdier, his eyes set on the house. He ducked under the yellow tape and pushed past more Pokémon as they attempted to stop him.

Rick stepped through the damaged door, a sinking feeling burying itself in his stomach. He looked into the front room, it looked just as it had the last time Rick had seen it. Then he walked into the next room; the kitchen.

It was ravaged. Blood was splashed across the walls, the table was turned over, utensils were thrown everywhere even sticking out of cabinets and walls. Rick followed the path of destruction into the one bedroom in the whole house.

There was a heavy dark green blanket on the ground, with three lumps underneath it. One was larger than the other two.

Rick slowly walked to the blanket and fell to his knees. He reached for the hem of the blanket and stopped.

 _"Do I… do I need to see this?"_ Rick thought numbly, then he set his jaw as the feeling in his gut worsened. _"Yes, I need to make sure…"_

Rick grabbed the blanket and lifted it up.

It was a strange feeling Rick went through as he stared at the battered and bloodied faces of Samuel, and his two younger siblings. It was as though his heart had dropped into his stomach and risen into his throat all at once. For two agonising seconds he didn't breath, his heart forgot to beat, and he was unable to tear his eyes away from that horrific sight.

The edge of the police blanket dropped from his paw which he suddenly lacked the strength to keep raised. His siblings' faces once again obscured by the impersonal features of the thick blanket, Rick finally started breathing again. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that this was all just a bad dream. Almost, but not quite. He could smell the harsh, metallic scent of blood. It was a smell he was well familiar with, but this was the first time in a long time that it had nauseated him this much.

Rick didn't know what to do. Should he be afraid? Should he be horrified? Sad? Should he be crying? It was like a scene from a nightmare where time seemed to slow down. He knew he should do something, but his body wouldn't move.

Rick felt a paw on his shoulder, pulling him out of his trance, and he looked up. A Zoroark with a sympathetic look in his eyes was looking down at him.

"I'm sorry," the Zoroark said, "but I'm afraid you have to go for now. This is a crime scene after all."

Rick nodded slowly and looked back at the blanket.

The Zoroark left and Rick stared for a few more moments, then he rose to his feet and turned away from the scene. After leaving the house he stood on the front porch for a moment, dazed. Then he set his jaw and headed for his house.

On the way many people noticed him and tried to greet him, but he ignored them; not even glancing their way.

He paused on his front steps and looked at the entrance to the now empty house. Rick opened the door and stepped inside. The late morning sun was shining through the thin holes in the ceiling. It was quiet, the only sound was the faint breeze in the background.

He walked over to the kitchen table and sat down in one of the three old, rickety chairs. After sitting there in the quiet for a while, he stood up.

"I can't just sit here," he growled to himself, gritting his teeth. "I need to find the one who did this."

He walked from his house and headed toward the main part of town. He entered the market through an alleyway and glanced up and down the square. The place was teeming with people, including a couple of young-looking Mienfoo who seemed to be looking for someone. Rick didn't pay much attention to them, his objective was through the crowd; not in it.

He kept walking until he spotted the small building that was used as the police station. He made his way over there, adeptly pushing his way through the crowd. He arrived at the front door and stepped in.

* * *

Rick scowled as he left the police station. They hadn't told him anything, they hadn't even told him whether they had anything they could tell him. As far as he knew, they could have solved the entire case and just decided to keep it from him. He supposed this was one time when his elite status in the U.L. didn't help matters. They probably suspected him of being involved somehow.

"Alright then," he muttered to himself, "I'll find the bastard myself if I have to. There's got to be something I can do…."

Nevertheless, he couldn't think of anything. He couldn't remember anything helpful from the crime scene, and he doubted that he'd be allowed to go back for another look. His scowl grew as he walked back toward his house. He refused to let himself give up. He would get revenge, somehow.

Rick walked through the market square, not even caring about the crowd around him. Most of them, when they saw his expression, made sure to give him plenty of space. Leaving the market he entered the slums. The empty streets had never felt so dark and foreboding before.

As he neared his house, Rick became aware of a faint noise. It sounded like yelling, but that wasn't too surprising. Fights were hardly uncommon here, so he didn't pay much attention. He had his own problems, so whoever it was could deal with theirs. Then a louder sound cut through his brooding like a hot knife through butter. It was the scream of a child.

Without a second thought, Rick was off like a bullet from a gun towards the source of the commotion. He knew these streets like the back of his paw, and with his sharp ears it wasn't hard to find where the noise was coming from.

He rounded a corner to see something that caused his blood to boil. A surly-looking Sableye had one claw wrapped none too gently around the arm of a young Pokémon, probably the one who screamed, and the other claw was raised to strike. The young Pokémon, which Rick recognised as a Mienfoo, was cowering in abject terror and had several deep scratches along its other arm. Obviously the Sableye wasn't making idle threats.

"Give it back!" the Sableye, who Rick then recognised as a particularly stingy merchant from market square, shouted at the Mienfoo.

"Give what back?" Rick half growled, stepping into view.

The Sableye started when he saw Rick, but he didn't release his grip on the young Pokémon's arm and his expression quickly hardened again.

"It's none of your business, Reaper." The Sableye spat out the title like an insult.

Rick's eyes narrowed. "You're attacking a child, so I'm making it my business. Now talk, unless you want to find out firsthand how I got that nickname."

The Sableye scowled at Rick, but he didn't look too intimidated by the Lucario's threat.

"If you have to know," the Sableye replied, "this brat and her accomplice stole a bun from my stall."

Rick's eye twitched as he processed the information. "A bun…"

The Sableye flinched slightly at the intensity of the Lucario's tone.

"You physically assaulted a child in an alley," Rick growled, his voice rising with each word, "FOR A BUN?!"

The Sableye involuntarily backed up half a step. "It was an big bun…"

The spikes on the back of Rick's paws glowed a sinister black and melted into two sets of translucent claws, each one about a foot long and wreathed in black flames that seemed to absorb light rather than emit it. It was one of the techniques that had earned him the title of Reaper; Shadow Claw.

Seeing an actual move performed in front of his eyes shattered what was left of the Sableye's nerve. He stumbled backwards slightly, allowing the Mienfoo to yank her arm out of his grip. The young Pokémon then quickly high-tailed it down the alley and disappeared around a corner.

Sableye watched Rick like a cornered mouse watching a cat close in on it. Rick slowly stepped closer and closer, until we he right in the sableye's face. He brought his right arm up, and put the end of his Shadow Claw right up to his throat.

"I'm only going to say this once," Rick growled. "If I ever see you hurting anyone over a bun again, I will personally hunt you down and cut you into ribbons. Do you understand?"

Sableye whimpered slightly and nodded. Rick took a step back, and Sableye didn't waste any time in turning tail and running as fast as he could down the alley. Rick soon lost sight of him around a corner, so the Lucario turned back the other way and spotted two small faces peeking out from behind another corner in the alley. One of them was the Mienfoo he'd rescued, but below hers was the face of an even younger-looking Mienfoo. Probably the 'accomplice' that Sableye mentioned. As soon as they saw him looking, both of them ducked back behind the wall.

"It's alright," Rick said, allowing his Shadow Claws to fade. "I won't hurt you."

Slowly, cautiously, the two faces appeared followed by two bodies to match. Now that they were standing out in the open, Rick could tell that they were brother and sister and that the girl was the older of the two. Rick snorted slightly when he noticed the boy timidly trying to hide a bun behind his back. True to the Sableye's words, it really was a rather large bun.

"Thanks for saving us, mister," the girl said.

"Rick," he said, crouching down to meet them at eye level. "My name's Rick. What's yours?"

"I'm Susan," she replied, "and this is my brother, Christopher."

"But everyone just calls me Chris," Chris chimed in.

Rick nodded. "Alright then Susan, why were you and your brother stealing food?"

Susan stared at the ground uncomfortably and shuffled her feet. "We were hungry…"

Rick sighed. "Yeah, I guess so judging by the size of that bun. You can stop hiding it by the way."

Chris sheepishly pulled the bun out from behind his back. It was about the size of his head, and covered with crispy cheese. Still, it didn't look too nutritious. And from the look of the two of them they needed all the nutrients they could get. Their fur was matted and dirty, and didn't do much to hide the fact that both of them were unhealthily thin.

"You two came through the jungle, didn't you," Rick commented.

Susan nodded.

"Do you have anyone to look after you?" Rick asked, although he already knew the answer.

Susan shook her head sadly.

Rick sighed. "Fine then. Follow me."

Rick started walking, and the two young Mienfoo looked at each other for a second and then took off after him.

"Where are we going?" Chris asked as the two of them ran to catch up with Rick.

"To get you two some real food," Rick called over his shoulder.

Rick led them into the market square, but rather than visiting one of the merchants he instead made a beeline for a low, somewhat decrepit looking pub; the Drunken Gladiator. Despite its disreputable appearance, it actually had a fairly pleasant atmosphere and good food. The main reason Rick chose to visit the Drunken Gladiator though was that it also served as the entrance to the Underground League.

He entered the pub as inconspicuously as possible, with Chris and Susan in tow. There was barely anyone in the small, dingy front area and most people never saw more of it than that. When the bartender saw rick however, he grinned and nodded a greeting to him.

"How goes it Rick?" the barkeep, a middle-aged Sawk, said as he cleaned out a glass. "And what's with the kids?"

"Just let me in," Rick said tersely, not really in the mood for conversation.

"I see, it's been one of those days has it?" the barkeep replied. "Alright, go on in. I'll be there in a minute."

Rick nodded gratefully and walked over to a door to the left of the counter, where people sitting in the front area couldn't easily see it. It was unmarked and boarded up, but Rick knew the boards were just for show.

Motioning for Chris and Susan to follow him, Rick walked through the door as if he owned the place. They emerged into a much larger room, also filled with tables. This room was obviously meticulously well taken care of and it was filled with about a dozen Pokémon, very few of whom would've been mistaken for poor or homeless, or even particularly drunk.

All around him the other patrons of the pub shouted their greetings, and congratulations, as they recognised him. He was a familiar face in the Gladiator, and he knew almost everyone there personally. Still, he didn't really feel like socializing too much what with the events of the day still weighing heavily on his mind.

He looked behind him at the two young Mienfoo, who looked decidedly uneasy at being surrounded by so many big, noisy, and in some cases slightly drunk Pokémon. Despite appearances however, the Drunken Gladiator was one of the safest places Rick knew. Which was why he had decided to come here.

This back room was for VIP's which meant members of the Underground League, and only reasonably successful ones at that. Rick was, of course, included in that number. He steered the two young Pokémon toward an unoccupied table near the counter, which was a newer, cleaner, solid oak version of the one in the front room. There was a small door behind the counter, through which the bartender could cross back and forth between the two rooms without arousing suspicion from anyone in the front.

It only took few seconds for the bartender to appear, still cleaning his glass. Rick then went over to place his order.

"So," the bartender said, putting down his glass and leaning on the counter. "What'll it be? The usual?"

Rick shook his head humorlessly. "No, I need something a little stronger. Give me a stiff shot of whisky, on the rocks. Top shelf, if you don't mind."

If the bartender had possessed eyebrows, he would've raised them.

"You really have had a rough day, haven't you," he commented as he expertly prepared Rick's drink.

As a rule, Rick tried to stay away from alcohol for the most part. Whenever he ordered something stronger, it was because he needed to forget something. If even just for a short while.

"Thank you Jacob," Rick said as the Sawk handed him his drink. It was small, just a single shot, but Gladiator Whisky packed a punch no matter how much you took.

"So," Jacob replied quizzically, nodding towards Rick's table where Susan and Chris were sitting and watching them intently. "What's with the kids, if you don't mind me asking?"

Rick downed his whisky, recoiling slightly at the strength of it, then rattled the ice cubes around in the glass a little.

"I picked them up in the slums," he said. "One of the merchants caught 'em stealing a bun, and decided it was worth attacking them to get it back."

Jacob snorted in derision. "And I assume you told him off pretty good for that."

"You should've seen the look on his face when I pulled out my claws," Rick replied with a slightly giddy grin. "He looked like he almost wet himself."

"So, what," Jacob continued, "are you taking care of them now? Don't they have any relatives?"

Rick shook his head. "Not according to them. They say they came through the jungle, alone."

Jacob's eyebrows would've had a real workout that day, if he'd had any. "Through the jungle? All by themselves?"

"That's what they said," Rick affirmed, propping his head up with his paw.

"So what are you going to do about them?" Jacob asked.

"I'm buying them one meal," Rick replied, "because they don't look like they'd last much longer without one. After that, I'm dropping them off at the orphanage."

"What?" Jacob exclaimed incredulously. "Why? Rick, you know full well that an orphanage isn't a nice place to grow up. You can't condemn them to that, especially not after they went through the jungle to get here."

"What would you have me do then?" Rick asked.

"Why, take them in of course," Jacob replied. "I know you're having trouble making ends meet as it is, but I could talk to some of the big-shots in the league. They might be willing to give you a bigger cut of the battle fund, considering the situation. I'm sure little Jake and Lucy would love to have another couple other kids around to play with…"

"Jake and Lucy are dead."

Jacob stopped cold, and a look of horror slowly started to spread across his face. "What?" he asked, not wanting to believe his ears.

"They were murdered this morning, along with Samuel," Rick said in barely more than a whisper.

Jacob didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say. He'd known Rick a long time, even before Rick had joined the U.L. In fact, Jacob was the one who told Rick about it. Besides, anyone who knew Rick also knew, and loved, Jake and Lucy.

Without a word, Jacob got out another shot glass and filled it and Rick's with whisky.

"To Jake and Lucy," Jacob said, his expression somber.

Rick nodded, and the two touched their glasses together in a toast and then downed the contents. They both knew no amount of whisky would bring Jake and Lucy back but, for one brief moment, it at least dulled the pain.

Rick and Jacob sat for a while, not saying anything, just being there for each other. Eventually though, Jacob got up and put a hand on Rick's shoulder.

"I'll get you something to eat," he said. "And something for those two over there as well."

"I can't take them in," Rick said. "It feels wrong, like I'm trying to replace Jake and Lucy."

"No one could ever replace them, they brought light into so many lives around here just by being innocent, playful, over-enthusiastic kids," Jacob sighed. "And I'm sorry to have to do this to you, I really am, but what would they want you to do?"


	3. Chapter 3

Rick woke up with a mild, but unmistakable headache; a hangover. He opened his eyes tentatively, expecting the worst, but it seemed the hangover was only a small one.

"Must've had one too many shots last night at the Gladiator," Rick muttered to himself absent-mindedly. If he'd been a little more alert, which he usually wasn't first thing in the morning, he might've wondered why he'd been drinking at all.

As it was he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and rolled out of bed, which consisted of little more than a blanket covering a thick mat of straw on the ground. After doing a few stretches to loosen up his muscles he walked through the doorway which separated his room from the rest of the house, brushing aside the curtain which served as a makeshift door.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Rick went about preparing a quick breakfast for three. It consisted of eggs and a few strips of dried meat cooked over a wood stove, all wrapped in pieces of flatbread. He also poured out three pewter cups of milk, and set everything on the rickety table in the center of the main room. Satisfied with the meal he'd prepared, he cleaned up the mess he'd made.

"Jake, Lucy, breakfast is ready," he called to his siblings, who he figured were still in bed, as he cleaned.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around.

"There you are..." he started, but the words stuck in his throat as he saw before him two young Mienfoo. His brother and sister were nowhere to be seen.

In an instant, Rick's memories of yesterday flooded back to him. Rick felt tears welling up in his eyes. The alcohol had made him forget for a while, but now he remembered everything. It felt like he was losing his siblings all over again.

"Who's Jake and Lucy?" Chris asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his paws.

Rick's expression hardened, and he forced the tears back until he trusted himself to speak without his voice cracking.

"No one," he said, hating himself more with each word. "I… I made you some breakfast. You should eat it before it gets cold."

Chris stood on the tips of his toes to look on top of the table, and eagerly grabbed one of the wrapped up bundles of meat and egg.

"Thank you Mister Rick," Chris said enthusiastically, shoving the wrap into his mouth as quickly as he could.

Susan however wasn't so quick to dig in. She'd noticed something odd in Rick's tone.

"Are you alright Mister Rick?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

Rick shook his head, but he couldn't stand to look her in the eyes.

"Everything's fine," he insisted. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Susan wasn't convinced, but she decided not to press the issue and instead grabbed her own breakfast and started eating as well. Chris was licking the last of his off his paws, and muttering about how good it was.

 _"Now I remember,"_ Rick thought grimly to himself as he looked at the two Mienfoo siblings in front of him. _"Dang it Jacob, I don't know how you talked me into this..."_

* * *

After they'd left the Drunken Gladiator last night, Rick walked home in a daze which was only half because of the whisky. He couldn't get Jacob's words out of his head.

"What would they want me to do?" he muttered to himself, not really paying attention to where he was going.

All of a sudden, he looked up. In front of them was the town orphanage. Jacob was right, it was not the happiest place to grow up. Rick had heard that the orphanage almost never had enough food for all the children living there, most of them having lost their parents in the uprising.

"Mister Rick, what is that place?" Chris asked nervously, as if he could sense sadness in the air around the building.

Rick set his jaw, and worked up the courage to tell them that this was their new home.

"It's… it's nothing," he said finally.

He just couldn't do it. He couldn't sentence them to growing up in that place. It would weigh on his conscience for the rest of his life if he did. Besides, Jacob was right. Jake and Lucy wouldn't want this, not for anyone. Rick knew exactly what he had to do.

"Come on," he said to Chris and Susan. "Let's get out of here. My house is this way."

* * *

Rick sighed and downed his breakfast in two bites. The wraps weren't big, but they were nutritious and would keep him going until lunch; if only just.

After he'd licked the grease off his paws, Rick grabbed his bag and headed for the door. He had another match in a few hours and he needed to get to the U.L. early to warm up.

"I'm going out for a few hours," Rick said over his shoulder to Chris and Susan. "Just… stay out of trouble until I get back."

"Where are you going?" Chris asked curiously.

Rick hesitated. He couldn't tell them about the Underground League, it wasn't a place for kids. Jake and Lucy… he'd never even told them about it. He'd wanted to spare them from all the violence. Almost everyone in town knew them, and they knew the town like the back of their paws. They usually just went over to Samuel's house whenever he was out.

These two though, they didn't know their way around town and no one would know them either. As much as he hated it, he couldn't just leave them alone for hours at a time. Who knows what might happen?

"On second thoughts," he half growled, "the two of you had better come with me."

"But where?" Chris insisted.

"Yeah," Susan agreed. "Where are we going?"

Rick sighed. "It's that place we ate at yesterday. I work there. It's… complicated, I'll explain it when we get there."

That of course only made them both even more curious, but they realized that the only way they'd find out was if they followed him. So they did. Rick took a familiar, and direct, rout to the market square and from there to the Drunken Gladiator. When they stepped inside Jacob's eyes widened as he saw Chris and Susan, but he didn't say anything and just motioned them toward the boarded up door.

Walking through into the VIP lounge, Rick walked over to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools next to it. The room was nearly empty, as Rick had expected. There were only three other Pokémon there, early risers who got there beforehand to scope out the combatants so they'd have a better idea of who to bet on.

"Okay Rick," Jacob said accusingly as he walked into the room. "Maybe you can explain why you brought those kids back here. Especially since I assume they won't be leaving before your match."

Rick sighed. "I couldn't exactly leave alone at my place. Who know what kind of trouble they'd get themselves into. The way I figure it, they're much safer here with you while I'm in the ring."

The Sawk groaned. "Rick… fine, fine, just don't expect me to do this all the time."

"Mister Rick," Susan asked, tugging on Rick's leg. "What are you talking about? What match? What ring?"

"It's nothing you need to concern yourselves with," Rick replied in a tone that said not to ask any more questions.

Susan folded her arms and huffed, but didn't pursue the issue. She'd just have to find out some other way…

Meanwhile, Chris had decided that nothing interesting was going to happen. As such he took it upon himself to find something to do, which meant crawling under tables looking for things people might have dropped on the ground. But while he was engaged in his noble venture, he found something more interesting than he ever could've hoped for.

"Hey Suzie," the young Mienfoo called to his sister, "come look what I found!"

"It'd better not be a bug," Susan replied, running over to see what her brother was so excited about.

"I certainly hope it's not a bug," Jacob commented. "Something like that could ruin my reputation."

"It'd take a lot more than a bug to do that," Rick sighed, cradling his head in his paws.

"Are you sure you're even up for a match?" Jacob asked. "A lot's happened, I'm sure no one would blame you for skipping…"

"That's not the issue," Rick interrupted. "I still have three mouths to feed, so I can't afford to skip the match. I need the money if we're going to eat."

"You know you can always come here if you're strapped for cash and need a meal," Jacob told him, for the umpteenth time.

Rick sighed. "You could get in a lot of trouble if anyone ratted you out about that."

"Let them rat me out," Jacob insisted. "If someone's starving, I'm not going to just turn them away. If the higher ups have a problem with that, they can find themselves someone else to keep all their dirty secrets."

"You really are too nice Jacob," Rick said. "It's gonna catch up with you one of these days, you know that right?"

Jacob snorted. "The U.L. wouldn't dare get rid of me, I know too much. And if anyone else messes with me, they're in for a nasty surprise or two. I may be retired, but I'm still more than a match for anyone dumb enough to cause trouble on my watch. You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself just fine and you too while I'm at it."

Rick chuckled. "I don't know what it is Jacob, but you always seem to know the right thing to say."

The middle-aged Sawk shrugged. "Call it years of experience. Anyway, you'd better get going if you want any warm-up time before the opposition arrives. I'll take care of those two youngsters for you."

"Thanks again," Rick said gratefully, getting up. "For everything."

"Don't mention it," Jacob replied. "Good luck."

Rick walked over to a simple wooden door at the other side of the room. Through the door was a wide hallway that branched off in two directions. The right path led to the arena area while the left led to the combatant's locker rooms, training area, and lounge. The match wouldn't start for another hour at least, so he took the left path and headed for the training area.

The 'training area' was basically just a large hollowed out cave, almost as large as the arena itself, with a few makeshift straw dummies piled in one corner. The primary purpose of the room was for the combatants to hone their techniques between fights, and sometimes even test out new moves.

Picking one of the dummies from the pile, one which hadn't been beaten to a pulp already, Rick dragged it into the middle of the room and then settled into a fighting stance. He practiced a few punches and kicks, but nothing he'd actually use in a real fight. As he expected, his muscles were sore and stiff so he went through a simple series of stretches to loosen them up.

When he was satisfied with how his body was moving, he went back to throwing kicks and punches at the dummy. He started off slow but soon began picking up the pace until he his limbs were moving so quickly they just looked like blurs. Fortunately, the dummies were far sturdier than they looked otherwise Rick would've decimated his.

Once he'd worked up a suitable sweat, Rick stopped wailing on the practice dummy and paused to catch his breath. He was about to go put the dummy back in the corner, but then he noticed a small movement in the doorway out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to look but the doorway to the room was empty. He walked over and peeked his head out to look around, but there was no one there. He didn't even hear any footsteps or breathing. He was completely alone.

Rick shuddered slightly. He'd never admit it, but these silent stone hallways could really give him the creeps sometimes. Nevertheless, after one last glance around to make sure no one was there, he went back and finished putting away the training dummy he'd been using. After that he took another hallway to a fairly well-furnished lounge area, which was also exclusively for combatants.

As he walked into a room, he noted that there was someone else there. Sitting on one of the leather-padded wooden benches that lined the room was a Tyrogue who looked like he'd had it rough. The short Fighting-type had scars and scratches all over his body, including a large one across his right cheek. Despite his appearance however, the Tyrogue greeted Rick cheerfully.

"Hey there," he said, waving as he saw Rick. "You must be the guy I'm fighting this morning, right?"

From his voice, Rick realized that the Pokémon in front of him was even younger than himself. In fact, if he had to make an educated guess, Rick figured the Tyrogue was about the same age as he himself was when he first started fighting in the U.L.

"Guess so," Rick replied, holding out his paw. "Name's Rick."

"No kidding?" the Tyrogue said, taking Rick's outstretched paw and shaking it. "You're the guy they call 'The Reaper', right?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"Awesome. My name's Jay," the Tyrogue said, pointing one of his three fingers at himself. "They call me 'The Flash'."

"Never heard of you."

Jay winced. "Well, they don't call me that yet… but they will some day!"

"'The Flash', is that right?" Rick remarked with a smirk. "That's cute kid, but we don't usually get to choose what people call us. I sure never wanted to be called 'The Reaper', but the name caught on so there wasn't much I could do about it."

Jay sighed. "Okay, fine. Anyway, it's nice to meet you mister Reaper. I'm looking forward to fighting you."

"Just Rick is fine," he replied with a smirk. "And I'm looking forward to our match too. If they paired us up, then you must be pretty good."

Jay scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I like to think so… hey, I think that's our que!"

Jay was right, the deep sound of a bell was ringing down the hallways; the signal that the match was about to start.

"In that case," Rick commented, "We'd better get out there."

The two fighters walked down the hallway towards the arena, going down a long flight of stairs along the way. It was a trip that always invoked a certain amount of anticipation; suspense even. No match was ever certain, as uneven as the odds sometimes were. There was always the possibility that something would go horribly wrong, all it would take is one mistake.

Rick led the way as they exited the hall into a large open cavern, the ceiling of which rose a good ten feet above their heads. The cavern was about fifty feet across from end to end, and about thirty of that diameter was taken up by a giant pit in the center around which two consecutive rings of seats were arranged. The outer ring of seats were significantly higher than the inner, so people sitting in the back could still see the action.

The pit was about fifteen feet deep, and the walls were completely vertical. The only way to get out of the pit was a sturdy metal ladder, built to hold the weight of most Pokémon. It was hauled up into the stands during every match both so it wouldn't get damaged, and so the combatants couldn't get out until the match was over. If you didn't finish the fight, you didn't leave. That was how the U.L. worked.

The stands were full to capacity that morning, so much so that plenty of spectators were forced to stand for lack of seats. They'd come to watch Rick and Jay beat each other up for entertainment. Very few matches actually ended up getting bloody, and there were almost never any serious injuries, but it still wasn't exactly a pillow fight.

Rick descended the ladder into the pit, and Jay followed him down. Once they were at the bottom they took up their positions at opposite ends of the circular space and faced each other down.

"You seem like a good kid," Rick said. "I'd hate to have to beat you up."

"You seem like a good guy too," Jay replied with a smirk. "I'd hate to get beat up."

At that, the bell sounded and announced the start of the fight. Before Rick could so much as move, his Tyrogue opponent disappeared in a cloud of dust. Rick felt a rush of air behind him but before he could react, Jay planted a solid punch into his back.

Rick stumbled forward from the force of the punch, and was immediately slammed in the gut by another. This time though he got a good look at his assailant. Jay wasn't teleporting, he was just moving almost too quickly for the eye to see. 'Almost' being the key word.

Rick braced himself. Jay's punches came quickly, but they weren't very powerful by themselves. Jay wasn't striking with all his momentum, he was just making quick jabs in passing; trying to wear Rick down. As such, so long as he didn't let himself get caught off guard, Rick wouldn't have any trouble biding his time.

Still, it was humbling in a way to be on the defensive for once. Usually Rick struck both first and last in a fight, always taking the initiative and getting as much momentum behind him as possible. Both figuratively and literally. Most opponents were either overwhelmed by his unrelenting barrage of attacks, or downed by a surprise attack when and where they least expected it. Either way, Rick was always acting and never reacting. Now though, all he could do was wait.

The next several seconds felt like an eternity as he carefully studied Jay's movement pattern, which seemed to have a steady rhythm to it. Jay was running past him, landing a hit, then bouncing off the wall of the arena so he didn't have to slow down to change directions. Because of that he was running in a fairly predictable star-shaped pattern, and once Rick figured that out he knew exactly what he had to do.

He felt Jay's fist graze his shoulder from the left, so he knew that in the next instant the Tyrogue would be whizzing past his right. Knowing that, he quickly stuck his hind leg out to the right and grunted in satisfaction as he felt his foot connect with Jay's. Although to be honest the grunt was more from pain than satisfaction, as Jay's foot had a lot of momentum behind it at the time.

Jay, his leg having been knocked out from under him, tumbled forward and crashed into the wall of the arena. The Tyrogue didn't stay down for long though, and turned around to face his opponent.

"Not bad," Jay said, wiping a little blood from the corner of his mouth. "But let's see how you handle this."

Without any further warning, Jay shot forward directly at Rick and threw a right hook in the Lucario's face. Rick sidestepped the attack, but Jay followed it up a split second later with a left cross. Rick was forced to block the second attack with one arm, but the force behind it staggered him slightly.

Now that the young Tyrogue was facing him head on, Rick could tell that Jay had trained extensively in martial arts. Jay's technique was impressive, and combined with his incredible speed it was a force to be reckoned with. Still, Rick had not yet even begun to fight.

As Jay showered Rick with repetitive, but rapid, blows Rick kept an eye on the pattern. Once again, it didn't take him long to find an opening and when he found it he took it. Instead of just blocking one of Jay's blows he knocked it slightly to the side, just enough for it to miss him. His attack not meeting the expected resistance, Jay stumbled forward slightly. Rick took advantage of the opportunity and slammed his right paw into Jay's midriff, knocking the wind out of the Tyrogue.

His opponent momentarily stunned, Rick spun on his left hind-paw and sent his right one into the side of Jay's head. The swift and brutal attack sent Jay flying and left him sprawled on the ground, out cold.

Rick let out a sigh as the referee called the match. He might not have won, but Jay had certainly given Rick a good workout and several new bruises. He had a lot more skill than most opponents Rick fought.

 _"If this kid keeps on training and getting stronger,"_ Rick thought to himself, _"He might just beat me some day."_

The arena attendants lowered the steel ladder and Rick climbed up out of the pit. He was glad that the match was over, he didn't want to keep Jake and Lucy waiting…

Rick growled as he felt a familiar knot of pain form in his stomach. That's right, Jake and Lucy weren't going to be waiting for him after his matches any more.

 _"Why can't I get it through my head,"_ Rick thought to himself. _"Why do I keep doing this to myself?"_

Rick was snapped out of his thoughts by a strangely familiar voice.

"That was awesome Mister Rick!"

Rick's head snapped around to look at the source of the sound. He knew that voice, but he really hoped that he was wrong. Sure enough though, the two young Mienfoo were making their way towards him through the crowd.

"What are you doing here?!" Rick exclaimed half in confusion, half in frustration. "I told you to stay with Jacob!"

"We got bored," Susan said nonchalantly. "Then Chris found this tunnel and we decided to explore it."

"Yeah," Chris continued enthusiastically. "And then we saw you fighting that guy and you were so cool! He was all like 'whoosh', and you were like 'bam', and he was like 'crash'! Then he was all, 'Not bad', and then you were like 'wa-POW!' It was awesome!"

Rick massaged his head with one paw, placing the other one on his hip.

"You two shouldn't be down here," Rick said sternly. "It's no place for…"

"Can you teach us to fight like you Mister Rick?" Chris said excitedly, cutting Rick off mid-sentence.

Rick paused for a second, his mouth hanging open as he tried to speak but the words failed to come out. He felt a stab of guilt as he remembered the first time Jake and Lucy had caught him training. They had asked the exact same thing, if he would teach them how to fight, and he had refused. At that point he thought it was for their own good, but...

 _"If I'd taught them how to fight then,"_ he thought, gritting his teeth in anger, _"They might still be here…"_

"Are you okay Mister Rick?" Susan asked, concerned.

Rick shook his head to clear it. He couldn't think out here in the arena, there were too many people talking around them.

"Follow me," Rick told the two young Pokémon. "And don't wander off."

Rick walked out of the arena area and headed down the hallway to the locker room. No one was allowed back there except registered combatants, so it was the perfect place to go for peace and quiet after a match. Susan and Chris followed him, not seeing what else they could do.

When they reached the back room Rick turned to face the two Mienfoo. Susan, who was in the lead, stopped so suddenly that Chris ran into her and both of them tumbled to the floor. Rick sighed and the two got up and stood to attention.

"Now then you two," Rick said. "Do you really want me to teach you how to fight?"

"Yes!" Chris exclaimed excitedly. "Please yes!"

"Both of you?" Rick continued, looking over at Susan.

Susan nodded. "Both of us."

"Come on, pleeeeease?" Chris said.

Rick crossed his arms sternly. "Are you sure? This life is a hard one, and I guarantee that you'll get hurt; a lot. It's not something you just decide to do, you have to be fully committed. It took years of constant training for me to reach the point I'm at now, do you really want to commit to that?"

"Yes," Chris said without hesitation. "Please, I wanna be awesome like you!"

"We're sure about this Mister Rick," Susan replied, far more serious than her younger brother. "We've actually been looking for someone to train us, and we want it to be you."

Rick sighed. These two would be the death of him, no doubt about it. He'd only met them yesterday and already they'd pried their way into every corner of his life. Even so, he knew he couldn't turn them down. If they were sure about this...

 _"Jacob, this is all your fault,"_ Rick thought ruefully as he made his decision.

"Fine," he said finally. "I'll train you to fight."


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Rick began training his two Mienfoo proteges in hand to hand combat. At first he took it slow assuming that he would be starting from scratch, no pun intended, but he soon realised that this wasn't the case. To his surprise, both Chris and Susan already knew two moves; Pound and Feint.

With that to work off, the initial stages of their training went fairly well. In fact, they took to the basics like a couple of Psyducks to water. Rick showed them how to dodge, block, and arguably most importantly how to wait. He taught them how to read their opponent and anticipate their moves, and then strike at the right moment.

In addition, he had them adhere to the same training regimen that he himself followed. Every morning they did a set of various stretches and exercises, then took a jog around town before breakfast. Rick was quite frankly amazed at how well Chris and Susan handled it all, they seemed to have nearly limitless stockpiles of energy. Even after going through Rick's entire training regimen each morning, they were always eager for more.

Under other circumstances Rick would've loved having them around. However, whenever he looked at them running around having fun he couldn't help but see Jake and Lucy. There were moments though when, against his will, he found himself enjoying the presence of the two energetic Mienfoo.

More than a week passed with Chris and Susan becoming more and more skilled every day. It would take a long time before they'd be able to hold their own in a real fight, but even so they showed an impressive knack for bobbing and weaving around their opponent and generally making themselves hard to hit. Rick had never seen a Mienshao, their final evolutionary form, in combat but he imagined that all this fancy footwork was probably how they fought. Maybe the youngsters had learned it from their parents, whoever they were.

 _"I don't even know who their parents are,"_ Rick pondered as he led his two proteges into the Drunken Gladiator once again. _"They haven't told me anything."_

Rick resolved to ask them about it after his match that morning. He'd gotten into the habit of bringing Chris and Susan to his matches, mainly for two reasons. One, they enjoyed watching and it was a good learning experience for them, and two, it made it that much simpler to keep track of them while he fought.

That and, although he'd never admit it even to himself, it felt kind of encouraging to have them watching him and cheering him on. The stands were usually filled mostly with other competitors, most of whom would be scrutinizing his every move in the hopes of finding a weakness they could exploit if they were ever matched up against him. It was comforting to know that two sets of eyes were watching him in wholehearted adoration.

As they entered the back room of the Gladiator, which was mostly empty since they'd gotten there early as usual, they saw something that drew their attention like a magnet.

Sitting in the back of the room near the secret door to the arena was another Lucario, except he wasn't like Rick in the slightest. He was slouching slightly, his right arm on the table. His left arm was missing, and he had gruesome pink scars covering a lot of his body surrounding the missing limb. He also had a yellow blindfold covering his eyes, indicating that he was blind.

The sight of him gave Rick shivers. He'd never seen another Lucario before besides his parents, and the only other Riolus he'd ever seen were Jake and Lucy. Rick flinched slightly at the thought of Jake and Lucy.

Rick told Chris and Susan to go and sit down while he talked to Jacob. He then walked up to the bartender who was also eyeing the strange Lucario.

"So, who's that?" Rick asked sitting on one of the stools.

Jacob just shook his head. "He won't tell me his name, just says that he needs to be signed up for a fight with the most powerful combatant we have. So the higher-ups signed him up to fight you."

Rick gave him an odd look. "I don't usually argue with who I'm signed up to fight, but I'm a little skeptical about this. I mean, he's blind, and missing an arm. Are you sure I won't hurt him or something?"

Jacob shrugged. "You should know by now Rick, never underestimate your enemies. Besides, this guy gives me a weird feeling... You have some time for a warm up with Chris and Susan, I would recommend using it."

Rick nodded and gestured for Chris and Susan to follow him downstairs. When they arrived at the training room, Rick started leading them through their standard training regimen; minus the jog. As per usual, Chris and Susan were still as energetic as ever after they finished. Rick sent Chris and Susan to the stands to watch the match, then walked into the waiting room to see the strange Lucario standing facing the gate; just waiting.

"Uh, hello?" Rick said.

The Lucario didn't move his head to respond. "Hello," he replied flatly.

"So," Rick pushed on awkwardly. "What's your name?"

"You'll find that out," he replied again, "if events require it."

"Okay then." Rick gave him an odd look. "I'm Rick," he continued, sticking his paw out for the strange Lucario to shake.

The Lucario didn't bother to shake his hand. He didn't even acknowledge that Rick was there anymore.

"Okay then," Rick muttered as he sat down on one of the benches.

After a few minutes someone came in and told them that their match was about to begin and they had to get into the ring.

Rick and the Lucario walked up to the edge of the caged and the ring managers lowered the ladders. The two of them simultaneously descended into the concrete pit and took position across from each other in the ring.

 _"As much as I hate to admit it,"_ Rick thought to himself as he faced down his opponent, _"Jacob is right. I shouldn't underestimate my opponents. Why would this guy challenge me if he didn't think he could beat me? I'd be willing to bet he's not all he seems to be…"_

The bell rang to signify the beginning of the round. Rick took to the offensive immediately and charged the Lucario, but he was unfazed by Rick's rapid charge.

Rick used his built up momentum and threw it into a punch right at the Lucario's face. When his paw made contact it practically bounced off and jarred Rick's arm all the way up to his shoulder.

Rick stumbled back from the attack with a surprised look on his face. "What the…" Rick furrowed his brow in frustration and threw a roundhouse kick into the Lucario's back, but all he ended up with was a bruised shin.

Rick backed away slowly. "Who are you?"

The Lucario's head turned toward Rick slightly. "A Guardian of light."

Suddenly Rick was on the other side of the arena gasping for breath against the wall. He fell to his knees and coughed up blood onto the ground. He looked up to see the Lucario holding his arm up, his paw in a fist facing Rick's direction.

Rick stood up with a groan of pain and wiped the blood from his mouth. "How… how did you do that?"

The Lucario let his arm fall to his side. "This is over. You can forfeit now, or I can just end it."

Rick staggered forward slightly. Truth be told he was barely standing, that one blow had all but knocked him out cold. Even so, this stranger obviously knew nothing about the U.L. The match wasn't over until one of the combatants stopped moving. One thing was for certain, if Rick was going to lose he'd at least go down fighting.

"I can't forfeit," Rick growled, baring his fangs, "and I don't lose."

The Lucario shrugged. "Then I guess it's your move."

Rick dashed forward without warning, not nearly moving as fast as he could. In mid charge he summoned two Metal Claws went in to attack the Lucario's midriff, but a split second before he made contact everything went black.

* * *

Rick woke with a start, gasping suddenly. He looked around and saw that he was in the small infirmary of the U.L.

He groaned and laid back on the small bed as he felt the bruises he'd gained from his last fight. Then it all came rushing back. He'd just lost a fight for the first time in a long time.

"Are you okay mister Rick?" Susan asked from a chair nearby.

Rick groaned. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.

He managed to sit up, but the exertion triggered a splitting headache which nearly knocked him right back down. He was still having a hard time comprehending what had happened. He couldn't' believe he'd been beaten so easily, and by a blind, one-armed opponent.

Rick looked around the room again and realized that he and Susan were the only people in it.

"Where's Chris?" Rick asked, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Susan looked down at the floor. "He's probably with that other Lucario. He ran off to meet him after the match. I don't know where they are now though."

Rick tried to get up, but a fresh wave of pain hit him and he was forced to sit back down. This was like a bad dream, he couldn't actually have been beaten like this... could he?

Just then, Rick heard a familiarly enthusiastic voice approaching the room. He turned to look and, sure enough, Chris's head soon popped into the doorway. Upon seeing Rick awake, Chris ran over to him.

"Mister Rick, you're alright!" he exclaimed, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

Following close behind, the strange Lucario came through the door. He didn't say anything and Rick decided to wait for him to start the conversation, if there was going to be any at all. Chris of course was still still excited and was rapidly describing their battle in detail.

"You're much stronger than you appear," the Lucario said, and Chris immediately stopped talking.

Rick shrugged painfully. "I would say the same for you." He paused and there was a momentary silence. "Tell me, how did you hit me without me even seeing it? You threw me across the arena faster than my eyes could follow..."

The Lucario smiled. "I've had special training."

"And what did you mean by 'Guardian of Light'?" Rick asked.

The Lucario's smile faded. "That's an explanation for another time."

"So what's your name?" Rick said, wanting to fold his arms but not wanting to cause any more pain than he was already in.

"I'm Lucas," he said simply. "Any other questions? You seem to have an awful lot of them."

Rick nodded. "I guess so… For one thing, are you actually blind? Because I'm starting to find that hard to believe."

Lucas laughed. "No, I just prefer to use my aura vision over my actual eyes. It's significantly more effective."

"Aura…" Rick muttered. "It's been a long time since I've heard of that. I thought auric manipulation was just a legend."

Lucas's head turned in his direction. "You really are one of the last Lucarios outside of…" He stopped abruptly.

Rick's eyes narrowed. "I've never seen another Lucario besides my mother and father, that's one of the reasons your arrival surprised me. I've heard we're a dying breed. Are you saying there are more of us somewhere?"

Lucas hesitated. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but you do have a right to know." Lucas took a deep breath. "A long time ago, maybe two hundred or three hundred years, humans had immense technological advances. With those advances, they decided to leave the Earth behind and seek new worlds in space. Though there are a few stragglers that stayed behind, or couldn't afford to get a ride on one of their space ships. When they left they took a lot of their technology with them, and very few Pokémon.

When this happened Lucarios began to mingle more and more with other Pokémon. Having been more advanced in the way they thought, mingling with other Pokémon began to ruin that culture and their memory of being such an advanced race. So they separated themselves from the rest of the world. Only a small group stayed behind, claiming they would stand watch over the rest of the world to make sure that when they left completely it didn't damage everyone else. So, fast forward a hundred or so years later, there is virtually no trace of Lucarios on Earth. That's why we're thought to be a dying breed. Where the Lucarios went when they separated is a secure location to which I'm not allowed to give directions. But they have an amazing civilization, they live in almost perfect harmony, and I don't think they've ever been involved in any kind of war."

Rick stared at the strange Lucario numbly, struggling to make sense of all the information he'd just been given. It was almost too fantastical to be true. Even so, he hoped it was true. He hoped that there were more Lucarios out there, that his race hadn't died out like people thought.

"Okay…" Rick said finally. "That's a lot to process…"

Lucas grinned. "We could always talk about something else, I'm sure there are more questions for you to ask."

Rick thought for a moment. "Well, I guess the obvious one would be why are you here? That, and why did you want to challenge the most powerful fighter in the League? You must have known the outcome before you even entered the ring."

Lucas shrugged. "There are a lot of reasons, but I guess you could say it was more or less out of boredom. You get real bored when you can't lose, and I guess it could also be wandering around for five hundred years and having never lost a battle."

Rick blinked. "Five… hundred? Five hundred years?"

Lucas sighed. "More than meets the eye, right?"

"I knew that much already," Rick said, putting a paw to his forehead, "but five hundred years? And here I thought I'd been surprised all I could at this point…"

"Trust me," Lucas deadpanned, "the list goes on and on. But if you really want to know the reason I'm so old…" he paused and shivered for a brief second. "It's because I'm a Guardian of Light, and the heir to Arceus."

"Okay, now you're just making stuff up!" Rick protested.

"Wanna bet?" Lucas said grinning. "What kind of currency do you use here? Why wouldn't you believe me at this point? I mean, it might all sound impossible, but it's really not."

"Yeah…" Rick replied, not quite convinced. "I'll tell you what, I'll suspend my disbelief for now. I do still want an explanation though."

Lucas thought for a long moment. "It's not an easy thing to explain… First of all, a Guardian of Light and being the heir to Arceus are two different things. The Guardian of light thing is much more complicated. Basically, a really long time ago a Blaziken got possessed by some demon thing, went crazy and killed millions of people and Pokémon, then burnt himself out and went into a coma. After he left, some kind of Light force created five Guardians of Light. These five beings were irreplaceable, so when they died they didn't actually die. They kind of reincarnated, but didn't change bodies. They were just moved somewhere else and their lives started over and they were left with no memory of their past lives. The heir to Arceus is pretty basic. When Arceus dies, I take his place. It's the same thing with all legendary Pokémon, they all need to choose an heir before they die or else one gets chosen for them." Lucas paused. "Does that kind of make sense?"

Rick blinked. "Not really… but you certainly don't sound like you're lying, so I guess you must be telling the truth."

 _"Either that or he's crazy,"_ Rick thought to himself, although he couldn't quite convince himself of that.

"What I still don't understand though," Rick continued, "is why did you come here to this one-horse town and challenge the U.L. in the first place? You didn't exactly give me straight answer to that one."

Lucas sighed. "You know how I said that there were some humans that hung around when the rest of them left?"

Rick nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"Well," Lucas continued, "I wander around and help out the little settlements that still exist. Mostly it's building shelters and stuff. I was on my way to another town when I passed through here and I sensed you. I have this thing where I can kind of pick up on Lucario's aura signatures better than most. So, I thought that I would come and see who you were. I learned that you were in some illegal fighting club and decided to challenge you. More or less I'm here to see if you want to go to that hidden Lucario city and stay there or something. Your friends would be welcome to stay too."

Rick glanced over at Chris and Susan, who were looking on silently from the other side of the small room. Rick had almost forgotten about them, as his mind had been otherwise occupied.

To be honest, Lucas's offer was incredibly tempting. After his parents died in the civil war, Rick had often thought about leaving the village and seeking his fortune. The only things that held him back had been his siblings, since he wouldn't have been able to protect them on the road all by himself. Now though… Not only could Chris and Susan take care of themselves, but if they travelled with this Lucas guy they'd be safe from pretty much any threat. Then again that sparked the question of whether Rick really trusted Lucas, which he didn't.

"I'll have to give it some thought," Rick replied eventually. "It's not the kind of decision I want to make lightly."

Lucas nodded. "I totally understand. I'm leaving in a day or two just so you know, and I'm not keen on waiting for people. So if I leave you're going to have to find a way to catch up."

"Alright then," Rick said. "I'll probably make up my mind by then anyway. I just want to mull over a few things first, that's all."

Lucas nodded again. "Well, I have some… stuff I have to attend to." He looked at a watch that had suddenly appeared on his wrist. "And It looks like I'll be a little bit late, but that's okay." He looked at Rick and the watch mysteriously disappeared. "Try to get me your answer as soon as possible. If you don't I'll probably come and find you to make sure." Lucas turned and opened the door to leave. "Don't get too crazy though, you're still wounded from that fight so I wouldn't expect any matches for a good while."

Rick snorted. "Thanks for reminding me…"

Lucas smiled. "You're welcome." With that he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well," Rick commented to no one in particular, "He's certainly an interesting character."

"I like him," Chris piped up. "He's fun."

"Are you going to go with him Mister Rick?" Susan asked somewhat anxiously.

Rick sighed. "I don't know yet. Like I said, there's a few things I want to consider first. I don't want to dive head first into this half-cocked and unprepared. I guess the first question I should probably ask is are you going to tag along if I do go?"

"Of course," Susan replied. "We don't have anywhere else to go."

"And a city of Lucarios sounds super cool," Chris added. "Can we go, pleeeeeease?"

Rick sighed again. "Like I said, twice, I'll have to think about it. Anyway, let's go home. I need to sleep that fight off…"

With a little help from Chris and Susan, Rick managed to get to his feet and stay there without his head threatening to explode. They left the U.L. through the Drunken Gladiator again, and Rick borrowed some painkillers from Jacob along the way.

As they slowly made their way back to his house, Rick couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't jumped at the opportunity to leave the town. He didn't have much of anything to leave behind except painful memories. He couldn't be any worse off on the road than he already was. Still, there was something holding him back from accepting Lucas's offer. Unfinished business…

Once they arrived back home, Rick cooked them up a quick lunch and then retreated to his room to get some much needed rest. Lucas was right, he wouldn't be fighting any matches in the next few days. With a scowl, Rick realized that the little money he'd managed to save up wouldn't be enough to feed three people for three days. Unless he could find a way to make some money until he was well enough to fight again, they might very well go hungry.

They wouldn't starve at least, Rick was sure that if anything Jacob wouldn't let it come to that. The old Sawk was too kindhearted for his own good. It was for that exact reason that Rick didn't want to rely on Jacob for free food. Jacob could get in real trouble for that, even if he didn't care himself.

Rick spent the rest of the day in bed, only getting up to throw together a makeshift dinner. The next day, seeing as they'd eaten the last of the food already, Rick was forced to dig up the small coin purse he'd hidden under a floorboard. Checking the amount he'd saved up, he was disappointed to find that he had even less than he'd anticipated; only about enough for one day's provisions.

Susan noticed that something was wrong, and it didn't take her long to put the pieces together. When Rick went to the market square to get food, she called Chris over and started formulating a plan. As she'd hoped, Chris thought it was all very exciting and he was quite enthusiastic about the whole thing. Susan just hoped they could pull it off.

* * *

Rick came home to find Chris and Susan sitting in the main room of the house, looking just a little too innocent for his liking.

"What did you do?" Rick said accusingly.

Susan blinked uncomprehendingly. "What do you mean? We've been waiting for you to come back with breakfast."

"Yeah," Chris added enthusiastically, as if he was bragging about a major achievement. "We didn't do nothing."

Rick was completely unconvinced. "Seriously, what did you two get up to while I was gone?"

"Nothing at all," Susan repeated.

"Can we eat?" Chris exclaimed, cutting off Rick before he could question them further. "I'm huuuungry!"

Rick sighed. Whatever it was, they wouldn't be able to hide it forever. He'd find out eventually and he probably wouldn't like it one bit. Still, there was no point in grilling them over it. He decided to drop the issue and just make breakfast.

After they'd eaten, Rick decided he was feeling well enough to get some light exercise. He tried giving Chris and Susan a training session, but after a few minutes he gave it up. Not only did his head start bothering him again, but the kids didn't really seem into it like they usually were. Rick noted it as strange, but he didn't really feel like pressing the issue so instead he took a painkiller tablet and went back to bed.

He must have gotten to sleep at some point because he woke up well after noon. Getting up, he was relieved to find that his headache had disappeared again. He was about to go make some lunch when he realized that the house was quiet. Not just quiet though, it was completely silent. It was never silent with Chris around.

A quick search of the house and backyard revealed that Chris and Susan were not there, and there was not a single sign of them. It looked as though they left almost as soon as he fell asleep. Rick ground his teeth, what could they be up to.

Then an idea hit him like a sledgehammer. What with everything that happened, he'd completely forgotten about what Samuel showed him before he was murdered. The old Xatu had given him the key to more gold than Rick could ever spend. Now that he remembered that, and to his relief found that he could still remember the keywords to open the vault, all his worrying about money seemed almost ridiculous.

Without another thought, Rick headed out towards the house that used to belong to Samuel. All he had to do was go into the basement, grab a few gold coins, and he'd be set for weeks if not a month or two. He was used to living on a few silver pieces a day, and gold pieces were worth a hundred times as much as a silver.

Rick was still just imagining what he could do with a handful of gold coins when he turned the corner and got within sight of Samuel's old house. It was still completely blocked off with wire fencing, and there were a couple of policemen standing guard. One of these was the Zoroark inspector Rick had met on the day of the murder.

"What are you doing back here?" the Zoroark questioned him.

"I just wanted to have one last look around, if you don't mind," Rick replied.

Rick started walking toward the wire fence but the Zoroark held up his paw.

"Hold it," he told Rick. "This is the scene of an as of yet unsolved murder. I can't let people inside until the case is closed."

"But you let me through last time," Rick protested.

"I made an exception for you just that once because you were a relative, and you deserved to know the truth," the Zoroark continued. "I'm sorry, but I have my orders. This area is off limits to civilians. Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be for either of us."

Rick briefly considered either fighting or sneaking his way inside the building, but he immediately discarded both ideas as really, really dumb. With a defeated sigh Rick turned back the way he came. He'd just have to find money some other way.

As Rick walked back down the narrow alleyways, trying desperately to come up with something he could do, he was suddenly struck with the feeling that someone, or something, was watching him. He glanced around nervously but he couldn't' see anyone. In fact it was unnaturally quiet for this time of day, almost as if everyone else was feeling just as uneasy.

Rick frowned. He was only about halfway to his house, but he was already deep into the shadier part of town. There was no end of dangerous characters in this neighborhood, but everyone knew full well to keep clear of Rick. This wasn't anyone who knew him, which meant…

"I know you're there," Rick challenged, instantly forgetting his injuries. "You might as well show yourse..."

Before Rick could even finish speaking he heard something whistling through the air towards him. Almost reflexively he extended his Metal Claw and knocked the projectile out of the air. To his surprise it seemed to disintegrate on contact, and he felt a splash of water hit the side of his face.

Rick's gaze darted upwards, tracing the projectile's trajectory, and landed on a blue frog-like Pokémon with a long pink tongue wrapped around itself like a scarf. Rick had never seen one in person before, but he knew what it was. A Greninja.

"So," Rick said with a scowl, "You're the wise guy. Care to explain what you're doing attacking me out of nowhere?"

Without a sound, the Greninja disappeared. Rick spun on his heel and swept his Metal Claw up across his chest just in time to deflect Greninja's attack. The Ninja Frog Pokémon was wielding a two-edged short sword with a wickedly sharp tip, and Rick had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't planning on taking him alive.

Rick tried counter-attacking with his other paw, but Greninja dodged it with almost contemptuous ease and struck again. Rick only barely managed to block the second blow, and he didn't even see the third one coming until it was almost too late. The attack took him in his left shoulder, and would've gone through his heart if he hadn't moved at the last second.

Rick cried out in pain as blood trickled down his arm, but he still had the presence of mind to lash out at Greninja with his hind paw. Greninja went flying backwards, leaving its sword lodged in Rick's shoulder.

Rick gritted his teeth against the pain as he pulled the blade out and tossed it to the ground. His entire left arm felt like it was burning, and he could barely move it.

 _"This isn't good,"_ Rick thought to himself. _"I still haven't recovered from my fight with that Lucas guy, and now my left arm is all but useless. There's no way I can win this fight. I could try running, but where to?"_

Greninja got back to its feet, and Rick noted bitterly that it was blocking the way out of the slums. Rick scowled at his ever worsening luck as he turned and took off full tilt in the other direction, hoping to put as much distance between him and Greninja as he could before the Ninja Frog started chasing him.

Every step Rick took jarred his wounded arm, sending another lance of pain up it. Still he kept running, knowing that if Greninja caught him he wouldn't be able to fight it off. Down one alley after another Rick ran, not daring to look back for fear of losing speed. Every step was torture, not knowing how far behind him Greninja was. Every second he expected to feel a cold steel blade hit him in the back.

Then he saw it, his house. He didn't know why, but seeing his little house made him feel like everything was going to be alright. He didn't know how, but he would beat Greninja. He wouldn't die here, he couldn't.

Then something hit him in the back and sent him sprawling on the ground. He felt a weight on his back and he knew it was Greninja. He struggled to get up but it was impossible with only one arm. He braced himself to feel Greninja's sword slip between his ribs, but the blow never came.

The weight of Greninja's body was suddenly released in a rush of wind, and Rick crawled to his feet as quickly as possible to see what had happened. Greninja was cowering in fear from what looked like a white and gold Lucario, who towered over them both like Arceus himself.

The greninja never spoke, and the Lucario seemed concentrated on something. Suddenly the Greninja went limp and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

The Lucario turned and looked right into Rick's eyes. Rick took a step back in momentary fear. The Lucario's eyes were black where they were supposed to be white and each eye was a different color; light blue and a lighting yellow.

There was a sudden blinding flash, and when Rick was able to see properly again he saw Lucas standing in place of the white and gold Lucario.

Lucas readjusted his yellow blindfold and said, "Who's that?"

Rick's jaw hung open for a second, his brain refusing to process what his eyes were telling it. He closed and reopened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out.

Lucas sighed. "Sorry, I kinda overdid it. I wasn't sure what to expect so I kind of messed with his head a little bit. Clearly he couldn't handle it, but I did get some useful info that you'd probably like… actually I don't know if it would be that great."

"Uhh…" Rick mumbled, "What… what the heck was that?"

"That is one of the many perks of being a Guardian of Light," Lucas said, grinning. "It's pretty great huh?"

Rick blinked. "Yeah… right, okay. I'm dead, aren't I."

Lucas frowned. "Excuse me? Why would you be dead? Unless I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be dead. It's just the reality of things. And if this is surprising to you, we haven't even scratched the surface."

"You… you're enjoying this, aren't you," Rick deadpanned.

Lucas grinned again. "You have no idea."

Rick shook his head, gritting his teeth at the pain it caused. His headache had returned with a vengeance, although he wasn't sure whether it was because of the marathon he'd just run or because of what he'd just seen.

"What did you see inside his head?" Rick asked.

Lucas scratched the back of his head. "Uh… maybe we should check some other stuff out before I start revealing secrets of the mind and stuff." Lucas walked over to the Greninja. "Oh look, he has a bag, lets check that!"

Lucas bent over and picked up the bag, he shuffled through it and pulled out a piece of paper. "Can you read?" He asked Rick, who shook his head. "Dang, well then I guess I'll read this out loud. To paraphrase, 'Your mission is to eliminate the traitor Samuel, a Xatu. The target is extremely dangerous and should be eliminated as quickly as possible and with extreme prejudice, along with anyone closely connected to him. The target's location is enclosed with this message.' It's signed, 'Vladimir'."

"The king?" Rick exclaimed. "Why would the king need to hire an assassin? And why did the assassin come after me?"

Lucas Looked up at Rick with a sad expression and didn't say anything.

Rick's heart dropped like a stone as the words sank in further, and the pieces started to snap into place.

"He's the one who…" Rick muttered numbly.

"Killed Samuel," Lucas finished, "And your siblings. And he came after you to finish the job." Lucas looked at the ground. "I'm sorry Rick, I don't really know what to say…"

Rick scowled. "If you're sorry then bring that bastard back to life so I can kill him again. Or better yet, bring my brother and sister back to life! You're the heir of Arceus aren't you?!"

Lucas turned his head in Rick's general direction, took off his blindfold and looked at Rick with the same eyes as the white and gold Lucario. "I would, but I've already tried that. I'll tell you exactly how that conversation would go. I'd go up to Arceus and be like, 'hey, want to bring some people back to life?' and Arceus would say, 'heck no!'." Lucas nodded sadly. "Yeah, that's exactly how it would go."

"I don't need wisecracks!" Rick almost shouted, tears starting to well up in his eyes. "I need… I…"

Rick couldn't even finish his sentence before choking up. With a snarl, he shook his head and forced the tears down.

"Sorry," he said, angrily wiping the moisture from his eyes. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm just… kinda worked up right now."

"Don't worry. I used to be the same way." Lucas sighed. "I was always angry for about the first hundred years after I outlived everyone I knew. I begged and begged Arceus to bring them back to life, just once so that I could see them again. Naturally he declined. I had become angry and not just with him but with myself. I attempted suicide multiple times. Hundreds even, but it never worked, it was only painful. Eventually I met some people and they taught me to be more optimistic. I still have nightmares, violent ones, but I never let the past get to me. We only have the future to look forward to.

Rick scowled and stared at the ground. "Yeah, I know. I guess I haven't quite accepted that yet. What I don't get is why the king sent an assassin after Samuel in the first place."

"My guess would be that he knew some stuff that Vladimir didn't want him to know and decided to get rid of the problem." Lucas paused. "The Greninja didn't know anything other than his mission. And with him being a dark type, Vladimir must have thought that it would be impossible to read his mind." Lucas grinned. "But me and Vladimir have only ever met once and that was a very long time ago, and it wasn't very memorable."

"I'm not even going to ask about it," Rick said. "But I do want answers, and it seems to me there's only one person who can give them. Vladimir himself."

Lucas looked at him startled. "Okay let's not get too hasty now. I might be powerful and all, but Vladimir is one screwed up dude. When I way our meeting wasn't memorable, it means that I literally burned his image from my mind. That Pokémon was so… you should just train more before you try to pull anything off."

Rick looked Lucas in the eye. "How long do you think it would take us to get to Durin's Spear?"

Lucas was staring back. "Seriously, we should go to that Lucario city I told you about, and train. But it also depends on how we're traveling. Me heading there solo, I could make it there in a minute or two. But with three other Pokémon, it could take days, possibly weeks."

"What do you mean three others?" Rick asked.

"You know, you and your two friends." Lucas paused. "What were their names again, Chris and… Sally?"

Rick blinked; he'd almost forgotten them. "Susan, and they wouldn't be coming. They don't need to see what I intend to do."

Lucas shrugged. "I don't think that's entirely up to you, but whatever." He put his blindfold back on. "Maybe we should get rid of this body and get that shoulder of yours fixed up."

Rick sighed, rubbing the limb in question with his other paw. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I know a good healer, trouble is she doesn't work for free."

"Okay then. Let's get going." Lucas walked over to the Greninja's body and attempted to lift it onto his shoulder with one arm. When Lucas failed to do so he groaned, and a metallic arm came out of nowhere and attached itself to the side of Lucas's body where his left arm should've been. The arm seemed to move in perfect harmony to Lucas as he was able to lift the body up without any problems.

Lucas walked by Rick who stood frozen staring at the metal arm. "Come on, what are you doing?"

Rick blinked again and made an executive decision. "Nothing, nothing at all," he replied, running to catch up with Lucas.

At Rick's insistence, they took the Greninja to the police where Rick explained how the assassin had attacked him. Rick also told the officer on duty how Lucas had saved him, although he left out the whole 'Heir of Arceus' thing. He showed the assassin's letter to the officer who, although he was obviously a little overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, assured Rick that they'd look into the assassin's identity in an attempt to verify his story.

That done, Rick and Lucas headed for the market square. Reaching it, they took a branching path off to the side where they found an apothecary. The owner of the shop, an elderly Chansey who gave off a certain 'motherly' feel, took one look at Rick's shoulder and insisted they come inside.

The healer made up an herbal poultice and applied it to the wound, which began to heal up almost immediately. Before long the pain in Rick's shoulder faded away to a dull ache, and the bleeding pretty much stopped. The healer gave him another wad of herbs and told him to swap them tomorrow morning.

"If it's still bleeding after that," she said, "Come see me again and I'll give you another dose."

"Thanks," Rick replied. "I really appreciate it."

"Don't thank me yet," she continued. "You haven't seen the bill."

Rick received the slip of paper and stared at it in horror.

"That's a lot of zeros," Lucas commented.

"Please tell me you're also rich," Rick groaned.

"No," Lucas replied, holding up a small coin purse, "But I do have something that might help."

As it turned out, assassins are exceptionally well paid. While digging around inside Greninja's bag, Lucas had found a small coin pouch with a handful of gold pieces in it. Not only was it more money then Rick had ever seen at once aside from Samuel's vault, it was several times what they needed to pay the bill.

Lucas handed the healer a gold coin and told her to keep the change, at which her eyes seemed to grow to the size of dinner plates. As Rick and Lucas left the apothecary, the healer insisted that they come back if they ever needed patching up.

"So," Lucas said as they walked from the apothecary, "Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to meet tomorrow? If you're still interested that is."

"We can meet at the Gladiator," Rick replied. "How does noon sound to you?"

Lucas thought for a moment, "That should be fine." He paused, "So that means you've made up your mind?"

"Of course I have," Rick said with a faint scowl. "I'm going to go to Durin's Spear, find Vladimir, and wring some answers out of him if I need to. Maybe even if I don't need to."

Lucas nodded, "That's good to hear, and you're still interested in going to the place we talked about first?"

Rick sighed. "I guess so. Maybe I can learn a little about aura there. That kind of power might come in handy."

Lucas stopped walking, making Rick stop abruptly as well. "Learn a little bit if aura here and there? Might come in handy? I feel like you're not take your potential seriously. You have the ability to become one of the most powerful species in existence, and you think that it only might come in handy?"

Rick shrugged. "Well, like I said. I've only ever heard about it through the legends, and I've certainly never seen it in action myself. What am I supposed to think about it?"

Lucas sighed. "I guess you're right." He kept walking. "Well, I have some more stuff I need to take care of before tomorrow so I'll see you then."

"Right," Rick replied with a nod before turning down a different path leading towards his house.

As Rick walked back through the slums again he struggled to make sense of everything that just happened. It was almost too much for him to process. Still there was one thing he understood quite clearly, the assassin who killed his siblings was dead. Even so he didn't feel any satisfaction, or even relief. That Greninja was only a puppet, the tyrant king was the one pulling the strings. Rick would only be satisfied when Count Vladimir had paid for what he'd done; not only for his sibling's deaths but also, now that he thought about it, for his parents as well. They'd died fighting against Vladimir's uprising. Rick would avenge them all.

Rick pushed open the door to his house and stepped inside, and the first thing he saw was Chris and Susan sitting at the table in the center of the room. Rick was about to demand an explanation of where they'd been, but then he noticed what was on said table. A small handful of copper coins, with a few silver ones here and there.

"Welcome home Mister Rick," Susan greeted him with a smile.

"Look what we got!" Chris exclaimed proudly, his face lit up with excitement.

"Where did you get that?" Rick asked, worried that they might have resorted to pickpocketing or something.

"We did all sorts of things," Chris told him, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "We cut grass and pulled up weeds and moved biiiiiig rocks and…!"

"Hold on, slow down." Rick cut him off. "What did you do?"

"We helped out a few people who needed some yard work done," Susan replied.

"It was really fun," Chris interjected. "And look how much money we made!"

"We wanted to help you out 'cause, y'know, you looked worried," Susan continued, staring sheepishly at the ceiling. "We figured if we chipped in then you could take it easy until you're better."

Rick didn't know what to say, he just stared numbly at the two young Mienfoo for several seconds. All thoughts of the assassin and Vladimir faded from his mind, and he had to fight to keep his eyes from tearing up. They really did all this just for him, because they were worried about him?

To be honest, he was touched. Although he didn't want to admit it, especially to himself, he was starting to grow more and more attached to Chris and Susan. They reminded him so much of his siblings. A rueful smile tugged at the corners of his muzzle as he realised that, for once, he didn't mind.


End file.
